Essentials Travel Packing Guide
While we may not pack the same clothes for every trip, these are the things we bring no matter where we go!
As frequent travelers, bloggers, photographers, and videographers, we invest in high-quality gear that is also lightweight and will last for years to come. The last thing we want is an uncomfortable backpack for a long-term trip or cheap electronics that are going to break shortly after the first use. We learned (the hard way) that constantly replacing worn-out gear ends up costing a lot more than investing in high-quality equipment from the start. Get the most durable gear, even if it costs a little more, and you’ll see that it saves money in the end!
Here is a list of gear we use, but keep in mind that not everything is suitable or necessary for every type of trip or traveler.
In particular, we travel with a lot of electronics and photography equipment to keep our travel blog up to date and to create our YouTube travel videos. Use this guide to determine what essentials you will need and create your own personalized packing list. These travel essentials are perfect for nearly every type of trip and really help to organize everything!
A durable bag and a gear backpack are key to protect and transport all of your items. Same with a toiletry bag—just in case there’s a mishap and things spill, at least they’re contained!
We never go anywhere without reusable water bottles as they’re ideal for filling up at the airport or wherever there is potable water available.
As far as electronics go, we definitely pack more than most people would ever require, so assume this is the most you will need and eliminate from it to make your packing list.
We must have a hard drive and universal travel adapter. We’ve lost photos and nearly lost hours of footage because our laptop gave up. Storing everything on our external hard drive allows us to save all those precious photos and videos and keeps our laptop running smoothly!
A portable charger is also an ideal item to snag before a trip, especially if you’re using your phone to navigate constantly and don’t know where the nearest charging station will be. You can simply charge while you’re on the road!
This is the camera equipment and gear we use for our photography and videography. The best way to step up your photography game? Learn how to use your camera and all of its settings. For photography we use the Sony a7RIV and for videography we use the Sony a7SIII. We have many lenses that we use depending on what we are trying to capture, but our favorite Sony lenses are the 35mm f/1.4, 50mm f/1.8, 85mm f/1.4, and the 70-200mm f/2.8.
We highly recommend investing in some of these essential pieces and truly evaluating what you would and would not use on your trip. There’s no need to carry excess luggage or items if you’re not actually going to use them!
Essentials Travel Packing List
Smart Phone
What pieces are musts for you? Let us know in the comments below!